![Bride finds out she doesn't have marriage license hours before ceremony](https://people.com/thmb/O26f_pt0faxURNk5sjhURxFio_E=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/abby-leiner-10-11252019-4562b69ae2554c2d8c0db4f5d8cb1494.jpg)
kendra k beauty/tiktok; Alyssa Forbes photography
- Abigail Bartle and her husband Austin discussed getting the marriage license ahead of their big day
- A paperwork misunderstanding led the couple to not have a license on the day of their wedding
- The moment Abigail found out, while getting glam for her big day, and called Austin has gone viral
A bride getting ready for her big day got a big surprise when she realized she couldn't get legally married that day.
Abigail Bartle was getting her hair and makeup done for her wedding when one of her bridesmaids asked where her marriage license was. The bride replied she didn't have one, at which point they explained to her she should.
"[My husband and I] had a conversation a couple weeks prior where I asked him what we needed to do for the marriage license and he told me he applied online. The conversation ended there," she explains to PEOPLE.
"Fast forward to the week of our wedding and I did some research online. I found out what we needed to do to get married in Florida. We are from Illinois, so on the drive down, I told my husband we needed to go to the courthouse when we got there. He told me he had talked to his sister, who previously got married there a few months prior, and we didn't need to go."
Abigail argued that she believed they needed to appear somewhere in person, but her soon-to-be spouse assured her that "he took care of it all online."
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Not wanting to press an argument, Abigail left it alone and hadn't given it much thought again until that moment.
"The morning of our wedding, my makeup artist asked me if I cared if she recorded herself doing my makeup. I gave her permission and wasn't paying attention to the camera she had set up," she explains.
"As we were finishing up my makeup, my bridesmaids were gathering and packing everything that needed to be taken to the chapel with us. One of them asked me where I put the marriage license, and I said 'I don't have it. Austin said he did it online.' That's when everyone informed me I needed it and the call was made."
The viral video shows the bride picking up her phone and dialing as someone tells her "you both have to go. You both have to be there together."
"Like after or before?" she asks.
"Before," several bridesmaids confirm.
![Bride finds out she doesn't have marriage license hours before ceremony](https://people.com/thmb/80t504hAQgr7FgTJxLMKV4rdQFQ=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(499x0:501x2)/abby-leiner-11-04122024-5df6a01355984c78bdbfc0480dcccd8e.jpg)
Alyssa Forbes photography
Abigail called Austin on speakerphone. "Austin? Not to yell at you already ... we were supposed to go to the courthouse together and get the marriage license. We're not going to be legally married today."
"I told you. I literally told you," she says, to which he simply replies, "Okay." She shakes her head and hangs up as the video ends.
"I actually completely forgot that she was recording at that time," Abigail tells PEOPLE of her makeup artist.
"A few days later, my bridesmaids were sending the TikTok in our group chat. I thought it was so funny and couldn't believe that it was recorded," she shares. "I also did not think it was going to go as viral as it did! The comments made me feel better that we were not the only couple who has made this mistake."
![Bride finds out she doesn't have marriage license hours before ceremony](https://people.com/thmb/iPb4BOHzhsWsUrMZoYoh4EB-QTg=/4000x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(499x0:501x2)/abby-leiner-12-04122024-7daa36408b6e459e96671272d96efc8d.jpg)
Alyssa Forbes photography
Thankfully, what felt like a big problem was handled level-headedly. The couple got the paperwork sorted and can laugh about it now.
"After it all happened, we laughed it off and made a plan to go to the courthouse the following Monday. I was just happy because I knew I was right!" Abigail says.
"That Monday, we got the marriage license, brought it home with us, had our officiant sign it, and we mailed it back to Florida," she adds. "It's actually funny now and I'm happy we have a video of it to laugh at and show our kids in the future."